1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices used in the administration of rehabilitative substances, and more particularly to gloves employed for in vivo communication of medications, lubricants, or other substances to treatment areas such as the prostate, or the rectum.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous medicaments in cream, ointment, and liquid bases, lubricants and other substances have been formulated for in vivo administration for treatment areas throughout a mammalian body. In many circumstances, these substances must be carefully communicated to a treatment site in order to avoid contamination of surrounding areas and inflammation at the treatment site or surrounding area. These problems are particularly significant at sensitive application sites and/or surrounding areas such as the prostate and rectum.
The prostate is a male sex gland that is important for reproduction because it produces a portion of ejaculate fluid. It is a small walnut shaped gland that is located above the rectum and surrounds the urethra at the point where the urethra connects to the bladder.
At birth, the prostate is about the size of an almond and it remains this size throughout childhood. During puberty, the prostate begins to enlarge and nearly doubles in size. At about age 45, the prostate often starts growing again and, in most cases, can continue to enlarge for the rest of a man""s life. An enlarged prostate can frequently start to squeeze the urethra and interfere with the normal flow of urine causing uncomfortable symptoms such as frequent urination, sudden urges to urinate, weak interrupted urine streams, sense of incomplete bladder emptying, leakage and difficulty in starting urination. An enlarged prostate can even result in total blockage of the urethra, a very serious condition.
Several methods to compensate for an enlarged prostate are available. These procedures, however, are extremely invasive and uncomfortable. The enlargement process can also be reversed through the administration of medication, lubricants or other substances to the back of the prostate while massaging the prostate. This procedure can help improve blood flow, reduce pain, or shrink the prostate in size.
Current approaches for administering medications, lubricants or other substances to the prostate are painful, haphazard and imprecise. In this type of procedure, the doctor typically applies the substance to a gloved finger and then pokes the finger into the anus far enough to massage the substance on the back of the prostate.
This procedure is inadequate for several reasons. Much of the treatment substance is rubbed off the gloved finger upon insertion into the rectum and upon traveling to the prostate. This is wasteful and restricts the doctor from administering medication, lubricants or other substances to the prostate that may otherwise irritate the surrounding areas. Additionally, if the doctor attempts to manipulate the gloved finger that administers the treatment substance in such a manner to reduce the amount of treatment substance that is rubbed off, irritation and inflammation can occur in areas surrounding the treatment site. Further, the doctor does not know the precise amount of treatment substance that actually reaches the treatment site because much of the substance is rubbed off the gloved finger. This can result in either an overdose or underdose of medication.
No substance administration device is known that can be employed to overcome these inadequacies particular to in vivo application to treatment sites such as the prostate. In somewhat related art, glove apparatus have been provided which provide for dispensing or squirting of liquid material as the user manipulates one or more digits of the hand.
For example U.S. Pat. No. 5,466,080 issued to Lee sets forth a finger painting apparatus suitable for wearing upon the painter""s hand as a substitute for a paintbrush. The glove-like apparatus includes a variety of mechanical attachments including a plurality of inverted paint bottles coupled to a corresponding plurality of flexible tubes which are connected to pad housings secured to the painter""s fingertips.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,349 issued to Wolgamuth sets forth an ergonomic hand pet washing system which generally comprises a rubber glove, a rubber tubing secured to the glove carrying soap and water for washing, and a valve secured at the end of the rubber tubing opposite of the glove which controls the flow of soap and water. In one embodiment, the glove disclosed includes four outlet ports for the soap and water, each located at the crevice point between two fingers. In another embodiment, the glove disclosed includes an interior reservoir within the palm which communicates the soap and water to the wash site via a plurality of apertures fluidly connecting the reservoir and the palm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,169,251 issued to Davis sets forth a hand-worn dispenser which generally comprises a glove having a self-contained palmar reservoir for storing materials to be dispensed via conduits extending from the reservoir and terminating at the fingertips where the materials are supplied and dispensed from the reservoir. The materials are discharged from the reservoir by squeezing the reservoir with the hand, or by pressing and impacting the glove directly against the object which receives the dispensed material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,073 issued to Wagner sets forth a digital applicator that is worn by a single finger and a program for topical application of various medicaments. The digital applicator includes a dactyl cot formed of a tubular casing having a closed distal end and a conical medicament dispenser formed of an absorbent material such as a sponge attached to the distal end.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,864 issued to Sirhan sets forth a glove amusement device for squirting liquid. The glove comprises a liquid storage apparatus, a glove and an umbilical cord connecting the two and terminating at the glove fingertip. The glove produces a hard stream of liquid upon activation by a trigger mechanism also found on the glove.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,883,897 issued to Lefkowitz et al. sets forth a painting glove that may be used as a substitution of a painting brush. In one embodiment, the glove may be dipped into a paint reservoir and then used to spread paint on a work surface. In another embodiment, the glove includes a paint reservoir that allows paint to slowly flow onto the work site via conduits which terminate at each crevice between the fingers.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,701,604 issued to Holroyd sets forth a glove device used for the manual application of a liquid over a treatment surface. The glove comprises a liquid reservoir which is connected to an absorbent material via a passage means that controls the flow of liquid. The liquid is absorbed by the absorbent material and is expressible through the material to its outer surface by manual pressure.
While the foregoing described prior art devices have provided improvements in their various arts, there remains nonetheless a continuing need in the art for a further improved, efficient, economical, and non-invasive apparatus suitable for administering treatment substances to various in vivo treatment sites, particularly to the prostate or rectum.
A glove device for employment in the communication of medications, lubricants, or other substances is described, which is particularly useful in communicating such substances to in vivo treatment areas, such as the prostate or rectum. The glove device is preferably embodied in a substantially tactile, smooth and disposable material which contains a substance communication pathway embedded within that permits substance communication from a substance containing reservoir to an in vivo treatment site. The glove device may regulate the substance communication and may transmit greater than one substance simultaneously and in succession without removing the invention from a treatment site.
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide an improved glove apparatus for substance communication to internal treatment sites within a mammalian body.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a disposable substance communication device that may regulate the quantity of treatment substance that is administered to a treatment site.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a substance communication device which is flexible and smooth to avoid irritation and inflammation of the treatment site and/or surrounding areas.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a substance communication device capable of communicating greater than one substance, both simultaneously and at alternate times, without removing the communication device from the treatment area.
A more particular object of the present invention is to provide a substance communication device which is sufficiently tactile so that the administering doctor can feel the treatment site to detect any abnormalities and to massage the treatment substance onto the treatment site.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a substance communication device which includes a treatment substance outlet port substantially near the point at which the glove contacts the treatment site.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a substance communication device which includes a mechanism for regulating the time and speed of substance communication in order to avoid contamination of areas surrounding the treatment site.
Numerous other advantages and features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, from the claims, and from the accompanying drawings in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same.